Even though there were only three days until the next match, Cambridge United, returning victorious, generously gave the players a day off.
Next, the team will face Ipswich and Nottingham Forest at home, with only a three-day interval between each match.
Every year, this stage is a crazy process. Huang Hao, who had long grown accustomed to it, had fully adapted to England's somewhat abnormal fixture schedule. Fortunately, Cambridge United currently had no widespread injuries in their squad, and only the League and FA Cup remained.
On January 27th, Cambridge United hosted Ipswich at Abbey Stadium.
Facing Ipswich, who were ranked 11th in the League table, Huang Hao implemented a large-scale rotation for this match.
Hill and Jordan Ayew appeared on Cambridge United's frontline today.
Huang Hao had consistently maintained a first-team rotation mechanism in recent years, so even substitute players gained extensive match experience throughout a season. Consequently, the players' understanding and coordination were no less than that of the regular starters.
After the kickoff, the match was somewhat dull. Although both sides had some opportunities, there were very few genuine threats to the goal.
In the 38th minute of the first half, Mahrez received the ball on the right side of the front field, advanced along the right flank to the edge of the penalty area, and then directly lofted the ball into the box!
The ball was passed very high, somewhat erratic.
Gerken looked up, tracking the ball, and tried to run out of the six-yard box to catch it.
At this moment, neither he nor the Ipswich players noticed that Hill was moving towards the Ipswich goal with small, quick steps!
Just as Gerken was about to jump to catch the ball, Hill suddenly leaped high, appearing in front of him!
By the time Gerken realized, Hill had already powerfully headed the ball towards the goal, and as he landed, he collided with Gerken, sending both into the net!
1:0! Cambridge United once again secured an ideal start!
After switching sides, in the 53rd minute, Kante suddenly sent a long, over-the-top pass from the backfield!
Jordan Ayew successfully beat the offside trap, entering the Ipswich penalty area alone!
Facing Gerken, Jordan Ayew repeatedly dribbled the ball outwards, finally creating space, and then calmly slotted the ball into the empty net!
2:0! Jordan Ayew extended Cambridge United's lead to two goals!
After falling two goals behind, the Ipswich players, on the contrary, felt no pressure, and their offense became much smoother.
In the 70th minute, Hill received a pass from Sterri on the right side of the penalty area and tried to pass it to Kante outside the box.
Hoos suddenly appeared in the passing lane, directly intercepting Hill's pass!
Hoos immediately passed the ball to Ward in front, and Ipswich launched a counter-attack!
Ward kicked the ball directly into Cambridge United's attacking half!
Ipswich created a two-on-two situation in the attacking half!
Brown and Vincent were positioned on either side of the penalty area, while Warren and Pasc quickly tracked back to the center.
As the two defenders gradually closed in, Brown successfully passed the ball to Vincent on the right!
Vincent, facing Heffernan, calmly slotted the ball in! 2:1! Ipswich bravely pulled one goal back!
In the 75th minute, Ipswich came back again.
McCarthy broke through to Cambridge United's right byline and sent in a cross!
The teammate running in the center didn't touch the ball; instead, Pasc, who had tracked back to the penalty area, directly kicked the ball towards midfield!
Hill received Pasc's pass in midfield, passed the ball to Jordan Ayew in front, and then moved in the direction Ayew was heading to support him!
Ayew dribbled the ball to the edge of the Ipswich penalty area and passed it back to Hill! Hill first pushed the ball to the right, creating distance from Lewis, who was defending him, and then powerfully shot with his right foot!
Gerken could only watch in despair! Cambridge United extended their lead to 3:1!
The match then fell into a lull again until injury time, when another small climax erupted!
First, Ipswich's Ward dribbled the ball to near Cambridge United's left byline and successfully crossed it in front of the goal!
Brown, in the penalty area, used his body to shield Sterri, and poked the ball into the near post! 3:2, Ipswich once again narrowed the score!
However, Hill stepped up once more!
In the final 30 seconds of injury time, substitute Smith dribbled past a defender and sent the ball directly in front of the Ipswich goal!
Hill leaped high amidst the crowd and headed the ball into the net!
4:2!
Hill completed a hat-trick in the final moments, becoming the most dazzling focus of the entire match!
Huang Hao looked at the celebrating Hill, and thinking about the striker problem after this season, his head started to ache again. This was indeed a tricky problem!
January 30th, Abbey Stadium.
The match had already reached 90 minutes, and the score on the field was still 1:1.
Although Cambridge United had an ideal start when midfielder O'Connor scored with a powerful shot inside the penalty area just 8 minutes into the match.
But Cambridge United's lead only lasted for 9 minutes.
In the 17th minute of the first half, Nottingham Forest utilized a corner kick opportunity, and Tachtsidis scored with a header, equalizing the score for Nottingham Forest.
In the subsequent match, although Barnet dominated possession, with a possession rate that once reached 58%, the score remained at 1:1.
Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Smith took a goal kick. Injury time in the second half had already entered the fourth minute, and referee Davis had begun to frequently check his watch.
May won the first ball in the backfield and passed it to Smith in front.
At this moment, Smith was surrounded by two defenders. Smith found no good passing lane, so he passed the ball to Tadić beside him.
Tadić immediately flicked the ball with the tip of his foot, attempting to lob it over to Ayew at the edge of the penalty area. Morgan directly headed the ball back!
Smith immediately positioned himself, got in front of Moses, and passed the ball to Ayew.
Ayew gently tapped the ball at the edge of the penalty area!
The ball went straight towards Vardy on the right side of the penalty area!
Nottingham Forest's tall white defender Chambers, with his height and long legs, got in front of Vardy, attempting to directly block the ball!
However, in the struggle with Vardy, Chambers made a major error!
The ball hit the inside of his thigh and, instead of staying, continued to roll towards Vardy!
Vardy gratefully accepted the gift, dribbled directly into the six-yard box, and facing the goalkeeper, chipped the ball into the top corner of the goal!
The ball undoubtedly went into the net!!!
2:1!!! Cambridge United scored a last-gasp winner against Nottingham Forest in injury time, securing two consecutive home victories!
Just as Huang Hao and the players were happily celebrating the victory, Darren walked up and whispered a few words in Huang Hao's ear.
Huang Hao was stunned after listening, turned to look at Darren,
"Are you sure?" Darren didn't know whether to laugh or cry; how could such a thing be mistaken? So, he nodded affirmatively.
Huang Hao rubbed his chin and grinned.
What Darren had eagerly told Huang Hao was the draw result for Cambridge United's FA Cup fifth round.
Cambridge United was "lucky" enough to draw Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round.
On February 14th, Cambridge United hosted Fulham.
Just 1 minute into the match, O'Connor delivered a precise half-volley through ball from midfield, sending the ball to the edge of Fulham's penalty area!
Ayew started at high speed! He successively outran defender Aaron Hughes and full-back Stoor, getting to the ball first!
After entering the penalty area, Ayew shot with his left foot!
The ball was saved by goalkeeper Schwarzer with a dive, directly out for a corner!
4 minutes later, Danny Murphy found a good opportunity on the left side of the penalty area, and his shot was also tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper Pantilimon!
In the 11th minute, Zamora received the ball at the top of the penalty arc and took a long shot, but the ball lacked power, and Pantilimon calmly gathered it.
5 minutes later, Kante received the ball in midfield and delivered a beautiful over-the-top long pass, once again finding Lewandowski in the penalty area!
Lewandowski shot angrily on the run, and the ball went directly into the stands!
This time, even the tolerant Cambridge United fans were a bit fed up, and scattered boos could be heard from the stands.
In the 32nd minute, Lewandowski once again received a pass from Ayew, but the young man was clearly lacking confidence. Even with only the goalkeeper in front of him, he chose to pass the ball to Vardy on the other side.
Vardy tensed his ankle and shot angrily on the run!
The ball once again went over the goal!
In the 45th minute, Fulham launched a counter-attack. Danny Murphy received the ball in midfield, and although O'Connor successfully tackled him, the ball still went into Cambridge United's penalty area!
Johnson outmuscled Lovren from behind! Even though Lovren kept making small fouls, he couldn't stop Johnson from taking the ball into the penalty area! Then Johnson shot angrily, and the powerful ball went straight towards the corner flag!
A nervous Pantilimon immediately relaxed, thinking, "Holy cow!" The ball hit Suxi, who was retreating, and deflected towards the goal. Pantilimon watched in stunned silence as the ball bounced into the net.
0:1!
Cambridge United conceded a goal.
Subsequently, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
During halftime, Huang Hao slightly moved Ayew's position back to his preferred attacking midfield role, hoping to utilize his passing to create more opportunities for Lewandowski.
Ayew, now playing deeper, gave Huang Hao a surprise at the start of the second half!
In the 47th minute, Cambridge United won the ball back in the backfield. May kicked the ball from the penalty area to Ayew in midfield! Ayew adjusted his steps and immediately sent a long pass!
The ball drew an extremely beautiful arc in the air, perfectly clearing Morgan and Hughes, and landing in front of Lewandowski!
With a clear path ahead, Lewandowski dribbled directly into the penalty area and fired a shot! The ball went straight into the left side of the net!
1:1!
With the deadlock broken, Cambridge United's offense grew even stronger.
In the 53rd minute, Lewandowski received a corner kick from O'Connor outside the box and shot angrily!
The ball hit the crossbar and went out for a goal kick! In the 56th minute, Lewandowski took another curling shot, and the ball once again went wide of the goal!
In the 67th minute, Lewandowski dribbled horizontally inside the penalty area, followed by a curling shot. Schwarzer reacted quickly and tipped the ball out for a corner!
Cambridge United's continuous attacks forced Fulham to retreat their defense and struggle to defend!
In the 84th minute, Cambridge United's midfield commander O'Connor once again accurately intercepted Fulham's pass and immediately passed it to Mahrez!
Mahrez broke through to the edge of the penalty area and passed the ball to Gotze on the right! Gotze dribbled horizontally and then shot powerfully with his left foot!
Schwarzer bravely parried the ball away!
A scramble ensued in the penalty area!
As soon as Vardy touched the ball, he was immediately brought down by Hughes's flying tackle!
Lewandowski quickly burst out of the crowd and, just as the ball was about to go out for a goal kick, powerfully struck the ball towards the goal!!!
The ball hit Konchesky's stomach, who was standing on the goal line, and bounced back! Hangeland, standing nearby, quickly kicked it out for a goal kick.
In the end, it was 1:1, a draw, and the two teams would meet again at Fulham's home ground in a week.